State Agricultural Society. 429 



receiving the waters which are precipitated in the form of rain and 

 snow upon that entire mountain system, and carrying it down toward 

 the plain. The northerly cleft is the canon of King's .River; that to the 

 southward is the channel of the Kern. Soon after the earlj r rainfalls, 

 and during the melting of the snows, these caiions are the chaunels of 

 deep, hroad, boiling torrents, pouring down at a high velocity, streams 

 of water which have a cross section of thousands of square feet, into 

 the great natural reservoir of Tulare Lake. This is soon raised above 

 the level of its natural barriers, and sends down the surplus waters 

 through Fresno Slough into the San Joaquin .River. 



NATURAL DRAINAGE — THE SAN JOAQUIN. 



North from King's River lies the third and last natural drainage divi- 

 sion of this country, embracing the area drained directly by the San 

 Joaquin Eiver, with its tributaries, the Fresno, the Merced, the Tuo- 

 lumne, Stanislaus, and a number of lesser but not unimportant streams, 

 as the Cottonwood, the Chowchilla, etc. Observe that all these streams 

 flow eastward from the Sierra. On the west of the river the compara- 

 tively low mountain system causes little condensation and rainfall, and 

 that which it does cause takes place, principally, on the western slopes 

 of the hills toward the coast, and forms the various small streams that 

 run into the ocean at Monterey Bay, and thence southwardly. • The 

 moisture contained in the lower strata of atmosphere coming inland 

 from the ocean, is thus, principally, condensed and precipitated by the 

 hills, before it reaches the San Joaquin County. The moisture con- 

 tained in the higher strata continues on its eastward course uncondensed, 

 until precipitated by. the high Sierra. From the rugged sides of these 

 I mountains it is sent down in torrential flow through its natural chan- 

 nels to the bay. Thus it comes that the thirsting plains of the San 

 Joaquin are tirst cheated of the rainfall that might make them the 

 garden of California, and are next mocked by the rush of the same 

 waters flowing between parched river banks, idly to the sea. And thus 

 it comes that there are no important tributaries flowing from its west 

 side into the San Joaquin. At the lowest stage of these streams the 

 past Summer, the San Joaquin, at Firebaugh's Ferry, above the points 

 of junction of its important tributaries, flowed a body of water with a 

 cross-section exceeding three thousand square feet, to which the Tuo- 

 lumne afterwards added its streams, then running with a section of six 

 hundred square feet. The stream of King's River, at the same date, 

 after the upper ferries had stopped on account of the- low stage of 

 water, was running with a cross-section of about one thousand square 

 feet. 



CANALS FOR IRRIGATION AND TRANSPORTATION. 



A COMPREHENSIVE CANAL SYSTEM. 



"A comprehensive canal and irrigation system " may be illustrated by 

 the more familiar idea of a comprehensive railway sj'stem. It is easily 

 understood that the latter ought to consist of two trunks, running one 

 on the east side of the San Joaquin Kiver and one on the west side, com- 

 bining to form a main stem from a point — say at Bantas, and thence 

 along a natural grade by the Straits of Carquinez to deep water. 



